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Oregon council reluctantly greenlights lead testing at day cares

Updated January 12, 2018 at 4:03 PM;Posted October 26, 2017 at 1:35 PM

In this April 27, 2017, file photo, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown speaks in the Capitol ceremonial office in Salem, Ore. Brown this month overrode the appointed Early Learning Council and mandated lead testing at day cares. (AP Photo/Kristena Hansen, File)(AP Photo/Kristena Hansen)

Under political and public pressure, Oregon's Early Learning Council on Thursday reversed itself and adopted a new policy to eventually require day cares to test drinking water for high levels of lead.

But parents and Gov. Kate Brown exerted pressure on the council after The Oregonian/OregonLive highlighted that decision. On Thursday, the council voted unanimously to set testing requirements.

Policymakers began the meeting planning to give themselves up to a year to enact the requirement. But they accelerated the timing at the behest of Patrick Allen, the Oregon Health Authority director.

"I'm concerned we're putting ourselves in an awkward position to be saying, 'This is important enough to do, but it doesn't need to start for a year,'" he said. "That's a pretty hard position to explain."

The council agreed to move up its consideration of formal rules, to January.

At last month's meeting, council members decided lead testing wasn't important enough to do at all. Officials said testing costs, of up to $100 per day care, would be heavy. They also questioned how day cares would pay for fixes if problems were found.

State officials in Washington heard similar concerns when they first proposed lead testing. But Washington nonetheless imposed testing requirements, noting in state documents that it was "relatively inexpensive considering the risk to children that it may reveal."

Sue Miller, chairwoman of the council, defended the council's decision at the time.

Responding to Washington's opposite conclusion about the costs of lead testing, Miller said in September: "I believe we made a very sound decision today."

The council's original plan would have required day cares to flush stagnant water from pipes, while the Office of Child Care would conduct education and outreach. That plan, Miller said last month, "will address 99 percent, if not more, of the concerns" about children potentially being exposed to lead.

On Thursday, Miller and other council members openly complained about news coverage of their September decision, calling it unfair and sensational.

Janet Dougherty-Smith, who didn't attend last month's meeting because of an illness, told members that they need to consider public perception. Dougherty-Smith said she is almost thankful she missed the vote.

"The Early Learning Council, to me, looked like a bunch of doofuses, the way it was reported," she said.

Council members wondered aloud why no one responded publicly to the newspaper article to better explain their rationale. "The silence was deafening," Miller said.

Teri Thalhofer, a public health professional on the council, had praised last month's decision for being based on good science and rising above politics.

She reiterated that point Thursday when questioning how quickly the council would need to set new rules.

"It's political and that sort of thing," she said. "But the data just is not there that our children are being exposed to lead through water."

Oregon's governor tasked the Early Learning Council with examining potential rule changes in 2016, following the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan. Official spent more than a year evaluating options before deciding that required lead testing at day cares was not necessary.

Pair said Brown believes child safety should be the highest priority. He declined to say why Brown, with the power to override the council, didn't simply order testing in 2016.

"While Governor Brown appreciates the council's concerns about the financial impact of mandatory lead testing on child care providers," Pair said in an email, "she feels strongly that the risk to children outweighs that impact to businesses."